


Mr Neal & Mr McLaughlin

by ElectricDove



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Married Life, rhink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 12:55:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8801626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricDove/pseuds/ElectricDove
Summary: The domestic life of teachers a.k.a. how to successfully juggle papers, students and a dorky husband.





	

“Mr Neal, do you have a moment?” 

He can tell Link is tired, the way he looks up at the disturbance, his eyes weary and his hair messy on his forehead. Rhett sees the tiny moment of annoyance on his face before Link notices it’s him, not some lingering students asking something of him. So when he spots Rhett standing in the doorway of his tiny office his face softens, a small smile tugging at his lips.  
Instead of answering the inane question, Link pushes his chair away from his desk while straightening his posture, cracking his back in the process as he flexes his arms above his head. Rhett takes it as a welcome, settling in the worn-down chair across the desk. The moment he sits down he can feel his own wariness taking over, the long day heavily insistent behind his knitted brow and scratchy eyelids.

“Man, these reports are killing me. Remind me again why we’re doing this? Babe?”

Link’s voice is as sleepy as Rhett feels and it takes a while before he summons enough brain power to answer. 

“Because my dad made us.”

Link’s breath of laughter is wonderful, light and sweet before it escalates into a yawn.

“And here I thought we were doing this for the greater good. To give some of our wisdom to these youngsters and inspire them to be better than they think they can be.”

“That too. Sure. Yeah. But mostly because my dad made us.”

He can sense Link rolling his eyes even without opening his own. Rhett can’t remember when he closed them, even though it must’ve been not long ago, otherwise he would have been asleep by now. Running a hand through his hair, he fights against the alluring fingers of sleep as they weave into his brain, slowing down his movements. His hair is probably a mess by now, matching Link’s. But that’s okay, he thinks, they don’t mind when their hair is a little messy at the end of the day. Opening his eyes to take in Link’s messy hair again is too much of a feat, his eyelids too heavy and the cushions in his back too soft to care he’s not at home.

 

Link’s voice is suddenly a lot closer as he wakes Rhett up from his light slumber, one hand on his arm to wake him up.

“Hey now, don’t fall asleep. I can’t carry you home, as much as I’d like to, you know.” 

With some effort Rhett finally opens his eyes again, realizing he slept at least 15 minutes in the old leather chair. Link is now perched on his desk, legs between Rhett’s own as he smiles down fondly at him. 

“Come on, Mr McLaughlin. Lemme take you home. What would the kids say if they caught you sleeping here?”

With Link’s help and an embarrassing amount of grunting and groaning, Rhett rights himself again. Ready to go home at the end of their workday, both of them with even more papers to grade in their leather bags, Link does another round in his office to make sure he has everything with him. They’d made too many late night returns to the school over the years, even going so far as returning in their pajamas as Link forgot something important yet again. 

“Okay, I’m done.” Link flicks the light switch, darkening his small office while Rhett steps outside. He can see light coming from several offices down the hall, some colleagues still slaving away on their grading. It’s the busiest time of the year for the teachers, paper after paper, exam after exam, it all needs to be read and graded before the deadline. While he and Link are going home at a decent hour, taking the majority of their workload with them, many of the others opt to stay well into the evening to keep their work away from home. 

Rhett is glad he has a understanding partner in Link; even though they don’t work in the same department, they know what the other is going through. There are no nights where Link argues about his tendency to work too late, because Link is right there next to him. Their nightstands are a mess, their sheets are littered with papers, books and laptops while they work side by side. 

Walking down the hallway, out of the building to their waiting car, Rhett takes hold of Link’s hand. Instead of questioning the gesture, Link weaves their fingers together and hums a little as he loosens his tie with his other hand.

There’s a million things that happened during the day, things that he might want to share with Link, but he’ll wait a bit. Walking next to Link in the twilight, hands linked together, is nice enough for now. Later Rhett will talk about Sam not showing up today, again. He’ll talk about his argument with John and how he solved it without compromising. He’ll laugh too hard while retelling his own joke from his 9 am class, making Link laugh with or at him.

As they stop at the car and their hands disconnect, Rhett watches Link search his pockets for the car keys. Link moves on to the leather bag on his shoulder, before returning to the pockets of his slacks. Before Link even says a thing, Rhett already knows what’s going on. He’s known Link long enough by now, or maybe it’s because this exact same scenario has happened a thousand times already.

“I forgot the keys. Shit!”

It’s Rhett’s turn to roll his eyes. He’s not nearly as adept at it as Link, but he’s got his fair share of practicing. 

“Dang it, wait a sec.”

Link’s bag is dropped at Rhett’s feet, nearly landing on top of his shoes. There’s a small kiss exchanged before Link is jogging back to the building again. For a moment Rhett entertains the thought of fishing his phone from his own pocket to pass the time, but he quickly dismisses it as he leans back against the car. His own bag joins Link’s on the asphalt, nearly overflowing with too much papers.

It’s times like these, when he’s so tired and a bit moody, that he wonders if they’re doing any good. His earlier statement, made half asleep in Link’s office, is at least half true. 

Back when he and Link were choosing colleges to go to, Rhett’s father made sure his son, and subsequently Link, steered in the direction of education. James McLaughlin, a university teacher himself, had reinforced the idea in Rhett that teaching was a stable way to change the world and do some good. So even while teaching wasn’t their dream job while growing up, Rhett and Link both got their teaching degrees. 

Now, 20 years later and a permanent position for the both of them, Rhett finds there are the moments where he just feels old and worried he’ll only leave a fleeting impression on the young people in his classes. While Link may joke about it when he’s tired, he’ll be easily energized again.

Rhett shakes his head, rubbing the palms of his hands on his eyes. He might just need a good night’s sleep and some hot cocoa with that nice soy milk Link brought home with him last week. 

 

Speaking of Link – picking up his car keys from the office shouldn’t take this long. Rhett is tired of waiting, he’d like to go home and get himself comfortable, but is unable to do so with his partner missing. The twilight is darkening, ready to transition into full dark and he has to strain his eyes to spot Link in the distance. He’s halfway out the door already but apparently held up by someone. Squinting his eyes even further, Rhett makes out the figure of the annoying English teacher who’s still unconvinced that Link is in a committed relationship. He can’t see Link’s face from over here, but his body language is so obvious even the dim witted woman Link is trying to get away from should pick up on it. 

Keeping half an eye on the couple across the parking lot, Rhett types a quick text to Link. He nearly laughs out loud as he watches Link do a double take back to him before he quickly ends the conversation. 

As he stalks over to Rhett, Link’s face is part amusement and part annoyance, but the latter is quickly losing ground. By the time he stands in front of Rhett, toe to toe, the grin he’s wearing has transformed his entire face.

“You smug dork.”

Rhett lets out a loud laugh, one Link can’t help but join. It earns him a smack on his chest. 

“I shouldn’t encourage you. If you’d want to know, Linda was inviting us to her Christmas party.” 

Rhett finds Link’s eyes, shining brightly in the blue hue of the streetlight that has flickered to life a while ago. He keeps the eye contact with Link as he waves at the woman still standing in the door opening, eyeing them intently from a distance before she’s caught and hurries away inside. 

“She invited us? Or did she just invite you, my dear obtuse sweetheart?”

Rhett sees Link rolling his eyes this time, before he grabs him by his tie to press a lingering to his lips. He moves around the car, opening the doors and putting both their bags on the back seat before answering in the sweetest voice.

“She said I could take my ‘boyfriend’ with me, if I wanted to.”

Both of them step in the car, Rhett’s tall frame folding in as he sits on the passenger seat. He sinks back into the cushions as he makes himself comfortable for the way home. 

“What about your husband then? Can I come too? Or boyfriend only? I don’t know how I feel about meeting your boyfriend, babe.”

He’s tired and the joke probably isn’t nearly as funny as he thinks it is, but Rhett is chuckling at his own wit as Link presses himself over the divider into his personal space. A quick kiss and a bite to his cheek is all he gets before Link is moving back.

“I don’t know why I married the biggest dork I could possibly find.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, the biggest thanks to my lovely editing friend dreamingfeather. Without her I'm a mess.
> 
> Come and find me on my [tumblr](http://touchinganelectricdove.tumblr.com/)  
> Kudos and comments always make my day a bit brighter <3


End file.
